Craigie Lea

Statement of Significance

Craigie Lea, 115 Beach Street, a single storey brick and iron house (now commercial building) has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

the place is a late representive example of the Victorian Georgian style of residential housing common to Perth, Fremantle and the South West of Western Australia during this time period;

the place contributes to the streetscape and the community's sense of place;

the place is associated with the Manning family, who were early farming pioneers in the Bunbury district;

the place represents the growth of Bunbury and the improvement in housing due to the influence of the goldrush and financial boom of the 1890s.

Physical Description

Craigie Lea (fmr), 115 Beach Road is a single storey rendered masonry and iron former house constructed in the Victorian Georgian style of architecture.

The walls are rendered masonry. The roof is hipped and clad with corrugated iron. The verandah is under a separate corrugated iron roof supported by timber posts. The symmetrical front façade has a central front door flanked on either side by timber double hung sash windows. There is a single storey addition at the rear. There are two rendered masonry chimneys evident. The house is situated at street level. There is a rendered masonry and timber picket wall to the front boundary line.

Documentary and physical evidence suggests that the verandah have been replaced, external brick walls rendered and painted over the original face brick, windows replaced with aluminium and the roof sheeting replaced. Further changes such as the addition of a waiting room were made when the place was converted for use as an ophthalmologist's rooms.

History

In 1891, Clement Magowan a tin miner from Greenbushes, subdivided his land on what was then Swamp Road. He sold Lots 1 – 5 to Joseph Manning in June 1897.

The Manning family were early farmers in the Bunbury district. Craigie Lea was built on Lot 3 by Manning and bricklayer Charles Hill. The house was named after a place in Scotland near where Manning’s wife Jane was born. At the time it was built, Craigie Lea was on the urban fringe of Bunbury.

Joseph Manning is attributed to carving out a track through another section of his land at Punchbowl from the house to the beach. This track was then used by the Bunbury Council as a basis for Swamp Road. The Manning family objected to the name and in 1906 Beach Road was gazetted as ‘westward from Vasse Road (Spencer Street) to William Street, thence south-west to a link road.’ Members of the Manning family lived at Craigie Lea from 1897 to 1983, when the property was brought by Naphill Enterprises P/L.

In 1987 the place was sold again to Triben Pty Ltd, Tispen Pty Ltd and Marlic Pty Ltd who traded as Spencer Management Services. At this time of the sale the property was derelict and the new owners converted Craigie Lea into ophthalmologists rooms. This included replacing timber window frames with aluminium, adding a large waiting room to the rear, replacing the ceilings and reconstructing the verandahs. The brickwork was also rendered as a repair strategy and the main entrance was relocated to the eastern side of the building.

Craigie Lea is still used as ophthalmologists rooms and is surrounded by residential properties, residential converted to business premises and commercial operations.

This history is based on the Documentary Evidence in Heritage Council of Western Australia, ‘Register of Heritage Places: Below Threshold - Craigie Lea’, prepared by Natasha Georgiou, 1998.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low degree of integrity (original use altered).
Medium to low degree of authenticity - alterations but with some original fabric remaining
(These statements based on street survey only).

Condition

Condition assessed as good (assessed from streetscape survey only).Previous notes state:Major reconstruction and additions in mid 1980s.

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.